COLLEGE SPORTS

STARKVILLE -- Carly Mauldin had second thoughts.
A decision to return home to Laurel meant she would have to miss four days of training with Aaron Byrd and the Women's Premier Soccer League's Motor City FC.

Savannah Thomas knew her sneakers were "ratty."
But Thomas didn't have an alternative after donating the sneakers she used to play volleyball at Caledonia High School. After two years away from the sport, Thomas was forced to use her size eight, gray Nikes with "soles that were coming off."

STARKVILLE -- Elgton Jenkins has experienced plenty of change as an offensive lineman.
In middle school, Jenkins played center. In his first two seasons at Mississippi State, he has played every line position.

STARKVILLE -- Matthew DeGenova knows when it is Todd Grantham's time to shine.
In two years as a linebacker at Georgia, DeGenova had an opportunity to see Grantham deliver 27 pre-game speeches to the Bulldogs.
"Those were something to look forward to," he said.

SCOOBA -- Buddy Stephens called himself a "JuCo lifer" after the East Mississippi Community College football team won the school's first National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) championship in 2011.

Tim Gould is still moving chess pieces in his head.
Gould had a lot to digest after watching the Mississippi University for Women's men's soccer team play East Central Community College in an exhibition match Aug. 23 at the downtown Columbus Soccer Complex.

STARKVILLE -- Mississippi State defensive coordinator Todd Grantham coached against Georgia Tech's triple-option attack four times while he held the same position at Georgia.
MSU saw the attack in the 2014 Orange Bowl.

STARKVILLE -- Brett Armour's first choice was the United States Naval Academy, but the Naval Academy ritually admits less than 10 percent of its applicants. When he got word he wasn't accepted, the Brighton, Tennessee, native went searching for a ROTC program he could find a spot in.

STARKVILLE -- J.T. Gray has a lot more opportunities to make impact plays in his new position.
Such is the reality of a linebacker-turned-safety in the Mississippi State football team's new defense under coordinator Todd Grantham, one in which a nickel player like Gray is expected to play a vital role in every aspect.

FULTON -- Itawamba Community College sophomore Montario Montgomery said the calls home are fewer this season.
A year ago, the former Starkville High School standout was learning to be independent. He admits it was a struggle.

FULTON -- Most senior college football teams have a handful of elder statesmen. It is not uncommon for players in their fifth or sixth year in a program to be leaders on the field and in the weight room.
Such veteran leadership usually doesn't happen in the junior college ranks, where most players are ushered in and out in two seasons or less.

STARKVILLE -- It didn't take long for Catalina Perez to make an impression on her Mississippi State women's soccer teammates.
The ease Perez had in transferring from Miami to MSU didn't surprise MSU first-year head coach Tom Anagnost. After all, Anagnost recruited Perez to come to Miami while he served as head coach at the school in 2011-12. He didn't get a chance to coach Perez after he was let go in April 2013.

Morgan Turnipseed is the ideal person to help the Mississippi University for Women's cross country programs grow.
You only needed to watch Turnipseed talk to two student-athletes who tried out for the women's team earlier Tuesday to tell the school's new coach is a people person with an infectious personality who can't help get you excited about being part of building something special.